Is It True You'll Stick Around for 18 Years?
by Knappster
Summary: One shot series of Stacie and Aubrey as parents. Tori-verse.
1. Ice Cream & Cookies

**A/N: I decided to separate this from Omelette because it was getting too big so I'll put all the new fics with Tori here from now on. They're posted in the order I wrote them but they don't really follow an order and some jump around different stages in Tori's life.**

* * *

"Tor, we're gonna be late!" Stacie yelled from the bottom of the stairs.

"I'm coming!"

Stacie made her way back into the kitchen. The loud stomps down the stairs were punctuated by a thump as the 8-year-old crashed against the kitchen island. Stacie gave her a worried look, relaxing when the girl smiled at her. "What do you want for breakfast?"

"Ice cream!" The girl replied as she sat on her usual chair in their small breakfast nook. Stacie arched an eyebrow at her. "It's the first day of school, mom, please!"

She smiled widely, proudly showing off the gap left by the fall of one of her lateral incisors. Stacie sighed. "Fine, just for today."

She hadn't finished her sentence when the girl was already out of her chair and pulling open the freezer. Stacie rolled her eyes and turned to the coffee maker pouring a cup for herself and pouring Aubrey's into a travel mug.

She was finishing Victoria's lunch when Aubrey's heels clicked into the tiled floor of the kitchen. Stacie felt her kiss the spot behind her ear and she smiled. "Thanks for my coffee, baby."

Aubrey turned to face their daughter. "I'm sorry I can't go drop you off too."

The girl looked up from what Aubrey had thought was a cereal bowl with ice cream smeared on her cheek. "It's okay, mom's fine."

"Hey, I'm better than fine." Stacie scoffed and wrapped her arms around Aubrey's waist kissing her cheek. "Right, baby?"

Aubrey stiffened in her arms. "Stace, can I talk to you in the dining room?"

"Umm, sure." Stacie shrugged at their daughter and walked out behind her. "What is it, babe?"

"Why is our daughter having ice cream for breakfast?"

Stacie chuckled nervously. "Oh that. She asked? It's the first day of school, I figured it wouldn't hurt if she had a little ice cream."

"Stacie, ice cream isn't breakfast."

"She's also having cookies!" Stacie added like it made everything better but Aubrey just glared at her. "They're oatmeal…"

Aubrey sighed. "Stace, I know you mean well but you can't just say yes to everything she asks for, you have to set boundaries."

"I have boundaries. It's a special occasion."

Aubrey narrowed her eyes at Stacie's tone. She knew Stacie thought she was exaggerating. She didn't want to turn into her dad who only said no to everything, but they couldn't just cave in to their kid's every whim.

Aubrey sighed, she didn't want to fight with Stacie and she was going to be late for work. "Just no ice cream for breakfast again, okay?"

She kissed Stacie's cheek and went back into the kitchen to grab her coffee and give Victoria a hug goodbye. "I'll see you tonight."

* * *

Stacie walked in smiling at the sight of Aubrey sitting on the living room couch. "Hey, gorgeous. You're home early."

"I just got in." Stacie walked up behind her placing her hands on her shoulders and leaning down to capture her lips.

Aubrey responded eagerly but broke the kiss after a few seconds with a frown. "Baby, aren't you missing something?" Stacie hummed against her neck and her hands started traveling down Aubrey's body. Aubrey swatted her hands away. "Not that, our kid."

"One of the dads took the team out for pizza after practice. They're dropping her off later." Stacie's teeth scraped Aubrey's neck. "So we have the house to ourselves."

Aubrey extricated herself from Stacie's arms and moved down the couch. "How late are they going to be out? It's a school night."

Stacie sighed, resigned that sex was off the table for now, and walked around to sit on the couch. "I don't know, they were just going for pizza."

"Did you remind her to not have too much sugar? We'll never get her to sleep if she does."

"No, I didn't. I told her to have fun with her friends."

"Stacie, you can't just let her do whatever she wants!"

"I'm not letting her do whatever she wants, I'm just letting her be a kid! What's up with you lately? She's fine! She's having pizza, not going on a tour of crack houses."

Aubrey coughed out a sob and Stacie froze. Aubrey never cried when they argued. They usually just talked, loudly, until one of them realized they were being unreasonable. But she'd never cried before. She quickly moved to her side and wrapped her in her arms. "Baby, what's wrong?"

She pulled her up to her lap and Aubrey clung to her neck crying on her shoulder. Stacie rubbed her back softly and waited for her to talk. "I don't want her to hate me."

"Why would she hate you? She loves you." Aubrey let out a louder sob and Stacie tightened her arms around her.

"But you're the cool mom and I'm the evil bitch who's always telling her not to do things. I don't want to be like my dad."

"Baby." Stacie lifted Aubrey's head and kissed her cheek. "She doesn't think that. I mean, yes, I am cooler than you." Aubrey smiled a little. "But she loves spending time with you. All she talked about today in the car was how she couldn't wait for her first game so you'd get to see her play. She knows you hate having to miss practice."

"She did?" Stacie nodded and Aubrey rested her head on her shoulder again.

"Why don't you take her somewhere this weekend? I could use some time off from you two."

Aubrey smacked her shoulder but pressed herself tighter against her. "That sounds good."

"And I know I can do a better job on the discipline front. But you need to remember that sometimes it's okay to bend the rules a little too."

Aubrey sighed against Stacie's neck. "I know."

They stayed like that for a while, Stacie moving her hand up and down Aubrey's back and the blonde listening to her steady heartbeat and moving the thumb idly over her collarbone. When she felt better, Aubrey pressed a kiss to Stacie's neck and pulled back.

Stacie cupped her cheek, her thumbs smoothing over her tear-stained skin. "Are you okay?" Aubrey nodded and Stacie kissed her. "You're not your dad. Tori knows you love her and that you're proud of her. She could never hate you."

Aubrey rested her forehead against Stacie's. "I love you."

Stacie rubbed their noses together. "I love you too."

Aubrey leaned forward and kissed her softly, stopping to look at her after a few seconds. "She really shouldn't be having ice cream for breakfast."

"It was one time."

"Don't let it happen again."

"Maybe it can be a first day of school thing." Aubrey tilted her head and looked at Stacie humorlessly. "Okay, no ice cream for breakfast."


	2. Soccer

"Why did we pick a sport that requires us to get up at the ass crack of dawn on a Sunday and sit on cold bleachers in the middle of February?" Stacie complained as she took another sip from her coffee mug and scooted as close as she could to Aubrey.

Aubrey rubbed her back. "First of all, I hardly call 10 am the ass crack of dawn, and second, _we_ didn't pick, Tori did."

"Well why couldn't she have picked an indoor sport? Like basketball or bowling or something." Aubrey rolled her eyes. "And what's even the point of soccer? They're all running after the ball like headless chickens. Is anyone even keeping score? Look at that little one, she's not even looking at where she's going, the ball's on the other side."

Aubrey looked around them nervously hoping that the parents of that kid weren't close enough to hear and poked Stacie's side. "They're five! They're not supposed to be good."

"Then what are we even doing here? What is Tori supposed to learn from this?"

"Teamwork, strategy, and it's good exercise."

Stacie pointed at the field again. "What strategy? Headless chickens!"

One of the kids stumbled on the ball and fell, causing a bunch of the other kids to pile up on him. The ball rolled aimlessly across the field towards Victoria and she kicked it towards the goal where it sailed past the goalie who was sitting on the grass.

Stacie stood up and clapped. "That was awesome, Tor!" She sat back down and turned to Aubrey. "That was her own goal, wasn't it?"

"Yup." Aubrey chuckled and pecked Stacie's lips. "She'll get better. They looked really good the other day I took her to rehearsal."

"Bebe, it's not a musical. It's called practice." She looked back down at the field. "And I don't see how they could have looked good."

"If you call our daughter a headless chicken again you're sleeping on the couch."

Stacie pouted and focused back on the game. "How much longer do I have to suffer through this?"

Aubrey checked her watch. "Twenty minutes."

She groaned and rested her chin on Aubrey's shoulder. "Wanna make out?"

Aubrey laughed and shrugged her off. "No, watch your daughter."

"Fine!"

* * *

"Why aren't you here?"

There was a moment of silence at the other end of the line before Aubrey replied. "Because I'm out of town? You drove me to the airport yesterday, I'm confused."

"I know you're not here but why did you have to go this weekend? You've been taking her to practice, I don't know these people." Stacie whined and Aubrey chuckled softly because, even though Stacie was a lot better at socializing than her, something about other parents made her really uncomfortable. "I need you here, you speak soccer mom."

"You don't have to talk to anyone if you don't want to."

"But they're all looking at me with their judgy mom eyes!"

"Talk to one of the dads then."

Stacie scoffed. "Right, so they'll hate me more. I can't just go up to people's husbands looking like this!"

"You're right, what was I thinking?" Aubrey deadpanned. "There's a gay couple."

"Yeah, I already burned that bridge when I made a joke about their kid's barrette. You'd think gay dudes would have better taste. And a better sense of humor."

Aubrey sighed. "I don't know how to help you."

"Come back."

Aubrey could hear the pout on Stacie's voice and she smiled. "I miss you too. Go sit away from people and you'll be fine. And send me pictures."

"You better bring me a very cool gift. And sex."

"I think I can arrange that."

"Good." Stacie sighed. "I'm going back. I love you."

"I love you too. Good luck."

* * *

"Are you even watching? She was offside!"

Stacie put a hand on Aubrey's arm. "Babe, calm down."

Aubrey turned around and crossed her arms. "This ref is stupid."

Stacie wrapped her arms around Aubrey forcing the blonde to drop her arms. "I know but yelling at him isn't going to help Tori."

Aubrey dropped her head on Stacie's shoulder. "I know."

She turned around in Stacie's arms to keep watching the game flinching when a kid tripped Victoria. Stacie tightened her arms around her when the referee didn't make the foul call. "What the hell is your problem?"

Victoria got up and waved at them. "See, she's fine."

"Just because she doesn't make a huge deal about it doesn't mean it wasn't a foul." She kept trying to get out of Stacie's embrace to move closer to the sideline but the brunette kept a tight grip on her.

"Bree, they're going to kick us out. Again."

Aubrey slumped defeatedly against Stacie. "I'm not happy."

Stacie kissed her temple. "I know."

* * *

Victoria walked into the kitchen and dropped heavily on the nearest chair. "Hey, how was practice?"

Stacie only received an exhausted grunt in response making her chuckle. She went to the fridge and handed the girl a bottle of water before returning to her spot next to her wife by the stove.

"Thanks." Victoria took a long drink before turning back to them. "Are you going to my game on Thursday?"

"Of course, honey, we wouldn't miss your first high school match." Aubrey smiled and turned back towards the stove.

Stacie arched an eyebrow at how Victoria was still looking at them biting her lip nervously. "Do you not want us to go?"

The girl's eyes widened. "No! I want you to go." She looked down at her shoes. "You know I love you being there but… it's just that… I mean… sometimes you can be a bit…"

"Intense? Loud? Murderous?" Stacie finished for her smirking.

"I'm not murderous!" Aubrey glared at Stacie and then smiled at the girl. "I can control myself if that's what you want."

Victoria half smiled back. "Yes, well it's not just that." She turned to Stacie. "It would be really awesome if you didn't criticize everyone else playing. Out loud. In front of their parents."

"What? I don't-" She turned to Aubrey for help but she shrugged and nodded. Stacie frowned and crossed her arms. "I'll keep my mouth shut."

Victoria got up from the chair and threw an arm around each of them. "Thanks, you're the best. I'll go wash up."

Stacie waited until she was gone and turned back to Aubrey. "I never thought I would be the one she'd be embarrassed of."

Aubrey shook her head and moved to grab plates from the cupboard. "And comments like that are the reason she is."

Stacie followed her and wrapped her arms around her. "Aw, baby, I didn't mean it like that."

She kissed her cheek but Aubrey stood motionless in her arms. "Are you done?"

Stacie nuzzled her cheek. "I love you." She kissed her jaw repeatedly until she felt Aubrey relax against her. "You know I love it when you yell at people defending our kid. It's really hot."

Aubrey smiled and tilted her head slightly, a signal that Stacie immediately understood and started placing soft lingering kisses on her neck. One of her hands drifted to Aubrey's hip tracing small circles on her skin.

"Yeah, can you not do that during the game either?"

Stacie begrudgingly let go of Aubrey and grabbed the salad to take it to the table. "I don't know what else you expect me to do with my mouth if I'm not allowed to talk."

"Mom!"

"Stacie!"


	3. Hey, Kid

Stacie scooted down on the bed, careful not to wake up her wife, and positioned her head next to her stomach. She slowly lifted her shirt a couple of inches and looked up to check Aubrey was still sleeping. She ran her finger over the barely there bump and settled her head on her arm.

"Hey, kid." She whispered. "Apparently you can hear now which is insane since you're still the tiniest thing, I can barely tell you're in there. I'm not even sure you can hear me but your mama's asleep so I have to be quiet."

She paused and looked back up at Aubrey. She knew she was being ridiculous. It wasn't like the baby understood what she was saying, if they could even hear her, she could just say anything. But she'd been nervous for the past couple of weeks and she thought this might help.

She moved closer, her lips almost touching Aubrey's skin. "We're finally telling people about you today. Shit's getting real." She grimaced. "Sorry, don't tell your mama I said shit. Twice."

"Don't get me wrong, I'm really excited about you but it's all happening so fast and I don't know if I'll be ready. I've been getting books about parenting and pregnancy and they all say different things and there's so much we need to do before you even get here. I'm driving your mama crazy, she says I worry too much which really is ironic considering how much she worries about everything. But she's been surprisingly calm since we found out she was pregnant so I guess it's my turn to worry for the both of us."

Aubrey stirred next to her but her eyes stayed closed and her breaths evened out after a moment. Stacie smiled when Aubrey's hand moved to her side of the bed looking for her in her sleep. She reached up and took Aubrey's hand before continuing.

"She's gonna be a great mom. You've probably figured it out by now since you spend all your time with her, but she's the most loving, caring person in the world. You're gonna love her. She's the best cuddler and she has the best voice, you'll never get tired of hearing her sing. She's also an amazing baker so we're set for all your school bake sales. And she can teach you how to make cookies, or you can sit with me and steal her chocolate chips when she's not looking. She acts like she's mad but I know she always puts out extra chocolate chips for me to take."

She placed a light kiss on Aubrey's abdomen. "It makes me slightly less nervous knowing she's here, but I know I shouldn't put that much pressure on her. She's a fixer, and she's always gonna put us before everything else, so she's gonna try to do everything on her own if we let her. I know you're like the size of a bell pepper right now but you're gonna have to help me and be patient. I'm gonna try to do my best but I can't promise I'm not gonna screw up sometimes. I just hope that when I do you can forgive me and that you don't end up complaining about me in therapy."

She heard Aubrey chuckle and she turned to her narrowing her eyes. "How long have you been awake?"

"A bit." She smiled and cupped her cheek. "Come here."

Stacie turned back to Aubrey's stomach. "Well, kid, I gotta go. Your mama's awake now and her sex drive's been insane lately. Thanks for that." She smirked at Aubrey. "She's giving me a look now. I don't think she wants me talking to you about sex yet."

She felt Aubrey poking her shoulder and she chuckled. "I love you" She pressed her lips over the bump with more pressure now that Aubrey was awake. "so much."

She placed one last kiss there before turning and crawling up Aubrey's body. "Morning."

Aubrey pulled her down for a kiss turning to her side so Stacie could lay on the bed next to her. Stacie's hand moved to her exposed abdomen and up to her ribs. When she broke the kiss, Aubrey looked at Stacie running her thumb over her lower lip.

"Stace." Stacie hummed and moved her hand down Aubrey's side. "You're going to be a great mom."

The side of Stacie's mouth curved up but her eyes flitted away from Aubrey's face. "Thanks."

"Stacie." Aubrey sighed and scooted closer forcing Stacie to meet her gaze. "I'm not just saying it. I know you're gonna be amazing." She smoothed her fingers across Stacie's forehead. "She or he is going to adore you. And I'm here for you."

Stacie nodded. "I know and I want to be there for you too. I don't want you to feel like you can't trust me with our kid but I don't know if I trust myself."

Aubrey kissed her reassuringly. "I trust you."

Stacie smiled against her lips and deepened the kiss. Aubrey turned to lie on her back pulling Stacie with her. "Now how about you start by helping me deal with hormonal overflow."

Stacie chuckled and moved her hand down Aubrey's body. "Anything I can do to help."


	4. Balloons

Aubrey checked one last time that she had everything and called up the stairs, "Stace, I'm ready."

She heard Stacie's steps until she appeared on the top of the stairs. "Do you really have to go? Can't they just come over instead?"

"It's my dad's birthday."

"They could have the party here." Stacie got to the bottom of the stairs and grabbed her car keys.

"It's tomorrow, I don't think there's time to change the state where the party is happening on such short notice." Stacie pouted and Aubrey chuckled. "It's just two days."

"I don't like you traveling alone like this. I should go with you." She stepped closer to Aubrey and wrapped an arm around her, her other hand covering her baby bump.

"I'll be fine." Aubrey cupped Stacie's cheeks and kissed her. "Now, let's go. I don't want to be late."

Stacie took a step back and grabbed Aubrey's suitcase. "Do you have your dad's gift?" Aubrey nodded. "The one I gave you?"

"Yes, Stacie, it's in there." Aubrey rolled her eyes.

"And they know why I'm not going, right? I don't want them to hate me more because I didn't go with you even though I told you a million times I should." Stacie lifted the suitcase onto the trunk and closed it.

"They don't hate you," Aubrey said before getting into the car.

Stacie walked to the driver's side and got in. After Aubrey's parents had gotten over the shock of her being a woman, they actually tried to get to know Stacie. It hadn't gone so well. "They don't like me."

"My mom likes you!"

Stacie arched an eyebrow. She pulled out of their driveway, her hand finding Aubrey's once they were on the highway. "Your mom only likes me since we told them you were pregnant."

"She liked you before that. And my dad doesn't like anyone."

"I don't think skipping his birthday and abandoning his pregnant daughter is gonna help my case," Stacie grumbled.

Aubrey looked at Stacie and smiled. She let go of her hand and ran her fingers down Stacie's neck. "I'll tell them you're staying to paint the nursery. They'll understand."

"Tell them you made me stay to paint the nursery."

Aubrey chuckled. "Okay, I will." She brushed her thumb over Stacie's cheek. "Smile."

"I'll smile when you get back."

* * *

Stacie opened the door. "Good! You're here." She reached out and pulled Beca inside. "How do I know if I need a primer?"

Beca's eyes widened. "What's a primer?"

"Beca!" Stacie whined and went up the stairs. "I thought you said you'd painted a room before."

"I have but I guess we didn't need a primer." Beca shrugged. "I'm sure we can google it."

"Well, I didn't get primer, so if we do, we're gonna have to go buy it," Stacie said testily.

"That's fine."

Stacie threw her arms up and started pacing around the empty room. "It's not fine! It's gonna take time to get the primer and then we have to wait for it to dry. And then we need two coats of the base paint and that has to dry before we do anything else!"

Beca stared at her. "Stacie, you're channeling freshman year Posen and it's freaking me out."

"I'm upset and you choose to criticize my wife?"

"I'm just pointing out how irrational you're acting." Stacie stopped pacing and glared at Beca, making her raise her hands defensively. "Alright, I'm sorry." She took her phone out. "I'll find out about the primer."

"Thank you." Stacie sat down on the floor while Beca looked on her phone. She sighed. "I read somewhere that a change in cabin pressure could affect the baby or that she could go into premature labor."

"I thought the doctor said it was fine."

"He did. He said it was too early for anything to happen." Stacie started picking at the lid of the paint can in front of her. "Aubrey said she'll be fine. She's calling me as soon as she lands."

"She'll be okay," Beca said and absentmindedly patted Stacie's head while looking at her phone. "Okay, primer. This says that we only need primer if there's bare drywall, bare wood, or if you're doing a drastic color change."

"What counts as drastic?"

"I don't know, dude."

Stacie looked at the wall for a bit. "I think we're good." She stood up and opened the paint can. She handed beca a roller and pointed at one side of the room. "You can do these two, I'll do those two."

Beca nodded and poured some paint on a tray. "So, have you thought about names yet?"

"We're still talking about it. Aubrey wants Victoria if it's a girl and David if it's a boy."

Beca stopped painting and looked at Stacie. "After the Beckhams?"

Stacie burst out laughing. "No, but I should use that as a counterargument." Stacie shook her head. "Her dad's name is David and-" she sighed "-Victoria's after one of The Bangles."

"You're kidding, right?" Beca said with a huge grin.

"I really wish I was." Stacie shook her head. "It's not a bad name though, I guess I can ignore the backstory."

"Just hope she doesn't come out singing Eternal Flame."

Stacie snorted. "I'm pretty sure it's too late for that, no matter what name we pick."

* * *

"Wait! Close your eyes." Stacie put her hands on Aubrey's shoulders preventing her from walking any further. Aubrey arched an eyebrow. "It'll take a minute. Close your eyes."

"I'm tired, can't we do this after I take a nap?" Stacie pouted and Aubrey rolled her eyes dramatically before closing them.

Stacie kissed her and took her hand, leading her forward slowly. She opened the door to the nursery and pushed Aubrey inside. She stood behind her and held her waist. "You can open them now."

Aubrey looked around the room and smiled. The walls were light blue and they had white and pale pink clouds all around, the back wall had different colored hot air balloons in various sizes. "You did this?"

Stacie wrapped her arms around her waist. "Beca helped a bit."

"I love it." She leaned back and turned her head to kiss Stacie. "And I love you."

"Do you think it is going to like it?"

Aubrey turned in her arms and poked her ribs. "Don't call our baby 'it'. Use 'them' if you want to be gender neutral, 'it' makes it sound like we're having a puppy."

"We should totally get a puppy!" Stacie said excitedly.

"We're not getting a puppy when I'm six months pregnant."

"You're right, we should wait until we have the baby so they think they're siblings."

Aubrey frowned. "I don't think that's how it works."

"That's exactly how it works." Stacie said seriously and pecked Aubrey's lips. "Nap now?"

Aubrey nodded and turned around to look at the wall one more time, frowning when she noticed something. "Why is one of the balloons a soccer ball?"

Stacie chuckled. "Beca thought it would be funny after I told her what we wanted to name the baby."

"David and Victoria?" Aubrey frowned confused.

"Beckham."

Aubrey shook her head. "That's not the reason."

"I explained that to her." Stacie took Aubrey's hand and walked her out of the room. "I'm sure the little soccer ball balloon won't have any lasting effects on our kid."


	5. Good Things Come

Stacie looked at the clock and smiled. It was still early. She rolled over, nudging Aubrey gently and brushing her hair away from her face.

"Bree, wake up." Aubrey mumbled something but didn't open her eyes, making Stacie laugh. Sleeping Aubrey was one of Stacie's favorite sights even after all these years. Second only to… "Baby." She kissed Aubrey a couple of times. "Wake up."

"The house better be on fire, Stacie." Aubrey opened her eyes slowly.

Stacie bit her lip and hovered over Aubrey. "The house is fine. I had a dream."

Aubrey rolled her eyes and smiled. "What was it this time?"

Stacie's eyes lit up when she realized Aubrey wasn't annoyed and was actually playing along. "We were at the beach." Stacie turned to lay fully on top of Aubrey. "You were wearing that really small red bikini I love."

Aubrey chuckled, wrapping her arms around Stacie's neck. "I don't think I have that bikini anymore, babe."

"Well you need to get a new one because it looked really good on you." Stacie leaned down and kissed her. "It looked really good when I took it off too."

"You took it off?" Stacie nodded and moved her lips down Aubrey's neck as her hands sneaked under Aubrey's tank top. "And then what?"

"And then I f-"

A yell from outside their room interrupted Stacie. "Ma! Have you seen my shin guards?"

"Ignore her, she'll find them on her own." She turned to capture Aubrey's lips to keep her from replying and grinded down on her.

"Found them!"

Stacie smiled against Aubrey's lips and her hand slid down her stomach. "And then I-"

"Mom, what time are we leaving? You're said you'd drive me to school today."

Stacie whimpered and rested her forehead against Aubrey's. "Why is she still here?"

Aubrey chuckled and pecked Stacie's lips. "She has to take her science project with her today, you told her you'd drive her."

Stacie pouted. "But my dream."

"We can revisit your dream tonight."

"That's in forever!" Stacie whined. "Whose idea was it to have a stupid kid?"

"Yours." Aubrey laughed. "And you love her, you're just grumpy."

"I'm more than grumpy. I'm turned on and my wife won't do anything about it." She kissed Aubrey again and Aubrey pressed her thigh in between Stacie's legs making her moan.

She deepened the kiss, her hands moving to the waist of Aubrey's sleeping shorts.

"Mom!" There was a knock on the door

"I'm going to kill her." Stacie growled.

Aubrey pushed Stacie off her and got out of bed. "Get in the shower, I'll go feed your annoying kid."

Stacie scoffed. "She's your kid, my kid would know better than to interrupt sex."

"As long as you drive her to school, I don't care if you recognize her or not."

Stacie got up, kissing Aubrey's cheek on her way to the bathroom. "You better make it up to me tonight."

* * *

"Aubrey Posen."

"Babe, how do you feel about coming home for lunch?"

Aubrey turned her chair away from her open office door. "What kind of lunch are you offering?"

Stacie hummed. "It's a surprise, but you'll leave completely satisfied."

Aubrey didn't understand how Stacie still managed to make her blush but she felt her face grow warm and a tingling low in her stomach at Stacie's tone. She bit her lip. "I don't have time to drive back home, baby."

"Did I mention I'll be naked?"

Aubrey laughed. "I figured that would be the case. I still can't."

"Okay, what if I pick you up and we park in the back corner of the basement?"

"Stacie, I'm not skipping lunch to have sex in the backseat of your car." Aubrey whispered.

"I'll bring food!" Stacie protested. "And we haven't had car sex in ages."

"Because we have a nice comfy bed and you can wait until tonight." Stacie harrumphed and Aubrey smiled. "I love you, I have to go."

"I love you too, but I'm not happy." Stacie grumbled before hanging up.

Aubrey shook her head at Stacie's urgency. She got up, closing her office door and walking back to her desk. She undid the first two buttons on her shirt and took a picture, sending it to Stacie.

Her phone buzzed almost right away. Aubrey didn't know what she expected, but the picture that Stacie sent back made her want to cancel the rest of her day and go back home immediately.

* * *

"You're home!" Stacie grabbed Aubrey by the waist as soon as she entered the kitchen and kissed her deeply, pinning her against the kitchen island.

Aubrey chuckled when Stacie broke the kiss. "Baby-"

Stacie started kissing her again, swallowing her protests.

"Gross, guys. We eat here." Tori deadpanned, she was used to walking in on them kissing, but at least Aubrey tried to tone it down when they weren't alone.

Stacie sighed heavily, taking a step away from Aubrey. "How old are you? Aren't you supposed to be in college by now?"

Tori laughed and grabbed a glass. "Two more years, mom." She walked around them to the fridge and filled it with water. "And the other day you were almost in tears saying I grew up too fast."

"Yeah, I'm over that."

Aubrey slapped Stacie's arm. "I need to make a call, let me know when dinner is ready."

Stacie pouted and watched her leave before turning to the fridge to start dinner.

Tori went to the kitchen table, taking out her books and starting her homework. Stacie paused her cooking and looked at her, pursing her lips in thought.

"Hey, kid, do you have a lot of homework for tomorrow?"

Tori hummed as she thought about it. "Not really, I'll probably be done before dinner. Why?"

"Wanna go out for ice cream or something? You can take the car."

Tori arched an eyebrow at her. "You want me to leave?"

"Yeah, just for an hour or two." Stacie smiled. "I'll give you ten dollars."

"You're bribing me to leave you alone for two hours?" Tori asked with a smirk.

"I'll give you another ten if you don't tell on me."

"Deal." Tori grinned.

* * *

Stacie snuggled up to Aubrey as they sat down on the couch watching TV. She looked at her watch, it was almost seven and Tori was finishing loading the dishes into the dishwasher. She heard the kitchen door and looked up.

"I'm gonna go get ice cream with Jenny, I'll be back at eight." Stacie made a rolling motion with her index finger behind Aubrey's head. "I mean, nine."

Stacie gave Tori a thumbs up.

"Okay, honey. Be careful." Aubrey smiled at her.

Stacie waited until she heard the front door close to straddle Aubrey, kissing her hungrily. Aubrey's hands moved up her legs to her waist, returning the kiss with just as much need.

After the pictures, Stacie had sent her texts detailing her dream and all the things she planned to do to her that night. Every time Stacie had touched her since she got home had been pushing the limits of her self restraint, and the sound of the door closing had been like a green light for both of them.

"Stacie, bedroom." Stacie shook her head and started unbuttoning Aubrey's shirt.

"Seriously? I've been gone for two seconds!"

Stacie groaned loudly and hid her face on Aubrey's neck. Aubrey wiped her bottom lip to fix her lipstick but made no move to make Stacie get off her. "Did you forget something?"

"Car keys." Tori replied twisting her lip.

Stacie lifted her head. "My purse is in the kitchen."

Tori walked away. "I'm taking another ten dollars for the emotional trauma."


	6. All-American Annoyance

"Where are you going all dressed up?" Stacie asked when she saw Tori walk down the stairs.

"Umm, just to a movie. I won't be out too late." Tori shrugged on her jacket and turned to the door.

"Okay, have fun." Stacie narrowed her eyes suspiciously but didn't ask for specifics. If Tori had wanted to tell her who she was going with, she would have. And she trusted her, she didn't need to know who she was with to know she wouldn't get in trouble.

Stacie walked to the study and leaned on Aubrey's desk, noticing Aubrey was squinting at her computer and chuckling.

"Where are your glasses?"

Aubrey rolled her eyes and sat back. "I don't need them."

"Then why were you squinting?" Stacie said cheekily. She tilted Aubrey's chin up and kissed her softly. "I think you look really cute in them."

"They make me feel old." Aubrey pouted.

"Aww, baby." She kissed her again. "You're just as hot as the day I met you."

Stacie pushed Aubrey's chair back and sat on her lap, kissing her deeply. Aubrey wrapped her arms around her and smiled into the kiss. She reached up to tangle a hand in her hair, scratching the back of her neck softly.

Stacie pulled back and rested her forehead against Aubrey's. "Tori just went on a date."

"What?" Aubrey pulled back. "How do you know? She told you?"

"She didn't have to, she looked really good and got all cagey when I asked her what she was doing." Aubrey frowned and Stacie chuckled, smoothing her fingers along her forehead. "Babe, it's cool. She's a good kid." She kissed her a few times. "Don't worry about it, she'll tell us when she's ready."

Aubrey sighed and pulled Stacie back against her. "You're right, I'm sure it's fine."

* * *

Stacie's smile fell as soon as Aubrey closed the door. "I hate him."

Aubrey turned to face her. "What? He was so nice."

"That's what he wants us to think!" Stacie waved her arms and walked to the kitchen, opening up the fridge and grabbing a beer.

Aubrey rolled her eyes and followed her. "Yes, boys usually want to impress the parents of the girl they're dating."

"Exactly! We can't trust him." Stacie took a long drink from her beer. "He's not good enough for her!"

"No one's good enough for Tori."

"But he!" Stacie waved her beer bottle. "He is less good enough. What kind of teenager wears chinos?"

"So this is about his pants?" Aubrey arched an eyebrow.

"No, that's not-" She put the bottle down and leaned on the kitchen island. "What does she even see in him? He's like so… normal."

"He was here for ten minutes, we don't really know him." Aubrey stepped up to her and hugged her from behind. "What is this really about?"

Stacie shrugged. "Something feels off about him."

"He actually reminds me of my high school boyfriend."

"That's it!" Stacie gasped and stepped away from Aubrey. "He's someone you would've dated before me. Someone Posen approved with the trust fund and the Italian loafers." Stacie shook her head. "I bet his parents are republican."

"Well, I'm-"

Stacie pointed a finger at Aubrey. "Don't. You're an independent." Stacie dropped her hand and sighed. "Did we do this? Did we do something that led her to believe that we expected this all-American, boy next door, annoyance?"

Stacie narrowed her eyes thoughtfully and looked at Aubrey, who responded by arching an eyebrow and crossing her arms. "I want you to think really carefully about what you're going to say next."

Stacie pressed her lips closed and looked away. Aubrey walked up to her and hugged her. "Remember what you told me?" She kissed her. "She's a good kid. Trust her."

Stacie pouted. She didn't like Aubrey using her own words against her. "Fine."

* * *

"Hey, ma."

Aubrey was making dinner in the kitchen when Tori came in. "Hey, sweetie. Dinner's almost ready."

"Awes, I'll set the table." Tori went to the cabinet to get the plates.

Stacie came in and kissed Aubrey's cheek. "I heard something about dinner."

Aubrey rolled her eyes and kissed her before turning to Tori. "Hey, your mom and I were wondering if you wanted to invite Kyle over for dinner?"

Tori frowned and looked at them. "Why? No."

"We just thought we could get to know him better." Aubrey shrugged casually. "Since you're dating him."

"Oh, no, no, no. We're not- He's not- I mean, we did go out but- It's not like we're dating dating. We're just hanging out."

"Oh, thank god." Stacie exclaimed relieved.

Tori arched an eyebrow at her but Aubrey cut her off before she could ask. "But we met him, I thought that meant-"

Tori chuckled. "He needed to use the bathroom and you guys were there, but it's not serious. We're just friends who occasionally make out. I mean, he's nice but I'd never be with someone like him, he's too… normal."

"That's what I said!" Stacie grinned and hugged Tori. "I love you."

Aubrey bit her lip and frowned, turning away from them. Stacie noticed and furrowed her brow.

"Tor, I'll finish setting the table. Go watch TV, I'll call you when it's ready."

Tori looked between them and shrugged. "'Kay."

Stacie waited until Tori was gone to approach Aubrey. "Hey, you okay?" Aubrey shrugged but didn't turn. "Babe, come on. Talk to me."

Aubrey turned off the stove and sighed. "I don't know how I feel about Tori having friends she occasionally makes out with. I mean, what if that's not the only thing she's occasionally doing?"

"You mean sex?"

"Or worse!" Aubrey crossed her arms.

"Hey." Stacie ran her hands down Aubrey's arms and pulled her closer. "I'll talk to her later, okay? Find out if she's shooting up behind the bleachers with Mr Chinos."

Aubrey tilted her head and glared at her. "I'm serious, Stace."

"I know, I'm sorry." She pulled her closer and rubbed her back. "I'll talk to her seriously, but I'm not worried and you shouldn't be either."

Aubrey squeezed Stacie tightly and nodded. "She's a good kid."

Stacie kissed the top of her head. "She's the best."


	7. Best Christmas Ever

Aubrey opened the door slowly, smiling when she saw Stacie and Tori on the chair by the window. Stacie was holding Tori with one arm and a book with her free hand, reading out loud to her. Tori kept waving her little hand, more entertained by trying to grab Stacie's hair than by the story.

"Hey, it's time for bed."

Stacie looked up and put down the book, shifting Tori to her other arm. "But we're not done with the story yet."

Aubrey walked to them, taking Tori and sitting on Stacie's lap. Stacie kissed her, careful not to squish the baby between them, and grabbed the book again.

"What are you reading?"

"How the Grinch Stole Christmas."

Aubrey lifted her forefinger and Tori grasped it in her little hand. "Do you want to hear the end of the story, Tor?"

Tori spit and shook Aubrey's finger.

Aubrey looked at Stacie seriously. "I don't think she cares about the Grinch."

Stacie pouted. "Don't you wanna know what happened to all the presents, kid?"

"We should get her ready for bed, babe."

"But it's Christmas." Stacie turned her pout towards Aubrey. "It's her first Christmas."

Aubrey smiled and kissed Stacie's cheek. "Just until you finish the story."

She settled more comfortably in Stacie's arms and listened to her read what was left of the book. Tori would occasionally look up at Stacie and gurgle something, making both of them smile.

Aubrey had always loved the holidays but this year had been the best. They had decided to stay home since Tori was still too little for a flight. They'd opened their presents in the morning, although Tori was more interested in the wrapping paper than the actual gift, and she hadn't been too amused when Stacie put her in one of the boxes so she took her out right away. They made dinner together, singing and dancing to Christmas music in the kitchen while Tori banged one of her toys and babbled, accompanying them. Aubrey had been cleaning up a bit while Stacie took Tori upstairs.

"And he brought back the toys! And the food for the feast! And he, he himself! The Grinch carved the roast beast!" Stacie closed the book and put it down next to them.

She looked down at Tori who was in the middle of a yawn, her eyes blinking sleepily. She brushed her fingers on the top of Tori's head and turned to kiss Aubrey's brow.

"She really is the greatest thing we've done."

"I know." Aubrey rubbed her thumb along the back of the little hand still holding her finger. "I hope we don't screw her up."

Stacie snorted, shaking them both. "I hope so too."

Tori stirred and Aubrey leaned back, deciding to stay there with Stacie for a little longer. "Best Christmas ever?"

Stacie smiled, tightening her arm around Aubrey and kissing her cheek. "Best Christmas ever."

* * *

"Mom!" Tori shook Stacie's shoulder. "Mom, wake up!"

Stacie shrugged and squeezed Aubrey tighter. "Tor, what have I told you about just coming into our room without knocking?"

"But mom, it's Christmas!" Aubrey rolled over and looked over Stacie's shoulder at her daughter. Tori smiled at her widely. "Santa came!"

Aubrey brushed Stacie's hair away from her face and looked at her. "Babe, Santa came, we have to get up."

"We do?" Aubrey nodded. Stacie sighed dramatically, turning so she could look at Tori whose smile widened. "Fine."

"Yay!" Tori yelled and jumped excitedly.

Aubrey chuckled. "Go on down, we'll be right there."

Aubrey looked down at Stacie when Tori ran out of the room, leaning down to kiss her. Stacie pulled back with a smile. "Merry Christmas, baby."

"Merry Christmas." Aubrey murmured, pecking Stacie's lips quickly before rolling off her. "Come on, I want my presents."

"Who said I got you anything?"

"That box you hid with the Halloween decorations?" Aubrey replied with a smirk.

Stacie gasped. "You're not supposed to look for your present!"

"I was looking for Halloween stuff!"

"In December?"

Stacie got out of bed, walking slowly towards Aubrey. When she got close enough she reached for her, but Aubrey anticipated her move and sprinted out of the room and down the stairs, with Stacie chasing her. She skidded past Tori, circling back and keeping her between Stacie and herself.

"Using your daughter as a shield..." Stacie shook her head. "Kid, let me get to your mama."

Tori looked up at Aubrey unsure, who responded with a wink. Tori smiled and looked back at Stacie shaking her head. "I'm good here."

"I thought we we were on the same team!"

"We are." Tori nodded innocently. "We're on ma's team."

"Aww." Aubrey hugged Tori, keeping an eye on Stacie. "Truce?"

Stacie nodded, getting closer to Aubrey and Tori and holding out her hand. Aubrey took it and pulled her closer, kissing her.

"Ew, don't make out on top of me!" Tori wiggled away, sitting down on the floor in front of the couch and crossing her arms. "Can I open my presents now?"

Aubrey pecked Stacie's lips one last time before turning towards Tori. "Yes. And bring me one of mine."

Tori jumped up excitedly and ran to the tree, grabbing the biggest box with her name on it and sliding it closer to the couch before returning to find one of Aubrey's presents.

Stacie sat down on the couch, pulling Aubrey on top of her and setting her chin on her shoulder. "I want a present too!"

Tori nodded and grabbed one for Stacie, handing them each their presents and sitting down in front of her box.

"Open it!" Stacie told her. She was really glad she'd picked that one first, she was really excited about it.

"Nerd," Aubrey murmured in her ear but watched happily as Tori carefully removed the wrapping paper.

She oohed once she'd uncovered the brown box underneath and turned to look at them. "What is it?"

Stacie chuckled and moved Aubrey aside, sitting down next to Tori on the floor.

"It's a kit to build your own computer! It's super cool, look." She helped Tori open the box and started pointing out all the parts. "And when we're done building it, you can use it to play. Do you like it?"

Tori nodded. "It's awesome! Can we start now?"

"Why don't you save it for tomorrow? You still have tons of presents under the tree and we have to make dinner, and Chloe's coming over, Jenny's gonna want to play with you." Aubrey said from the couch. "You can do that with mom all day tomorrow, I'll make you some computer building snacks."

"Okay." Tori grinned and closed the box, putting it on the coffee table and going back to the tree to get more presents.

Stacie leaned back against the couch and looked up at Aubrey. "You're not helping with the computer building?"

"That's more your thing, I'm keeping you fed. Besides, someone's gonna have to clean up after tonight."

"Fine." Stacie pointed at the gift on Aubrey's lap. "You haven't opened that."

"You haven't opened yours either."

Stacie looked at the box in her hand and read the card. "It's from your parents, I'm not gonna like it."

Aubrey slapped her shoulder. "You're the worst."

"You'll change your mind once you open that." Stacie winked, moving back up to the couch and jumping on top of Aubrey.

Aubrey squeaked but let Stacie pepper her neck with kisses.

"I'm still here." Tori said loudly, shaking her head.

Aubrey pushed Stacie back and sat up, patting her leg when she pouted. She kissed her quickly and started opening her present, chuckling when she noticed Stacie's expectant gaze.

"Hurry up!" Stacie urged impatiently.

Aubrey rolled her eyes, opening the slender box and gasping. "You got me a ticket to see The Bangles?"

"Front row." Stacie nodded. "There's one for Chloe too."

Aubrey threw her arms around her and crashed their lips together. "Thank you!"

Stacie grinned. "Best Christmas ever?"

Aubrey nodded, looking at Tori still unwrapping presents. "Best Christmas ever."

* * *

Tori rolled her eyes when she reached the bottom of the stairs and saw Aubrey and Stacie making out under the arch that led to the kitchen. She frowned when she noticed the sprig of mistletoe hanging on top of them. "I thought I got rid of all the mistletoe last year."

Aubrey pushed Stacie back by the chest and broke the kiss, looking lovingly into her eyes before turning towards Tori. "They were giving them away yesterday."

"You don't need more excuses to kiss." Tori shook her head. "Are you ready, we need to leave soon if we wanna get there before dinner."

Stacie draped her arm around Tori's shoulders and leaned on her. "Tor, why can't you be more like me?"

"Have you seen her eat?"

"Hey!" Both Stacie and Tori protested.

Aubrey shrugged and walked away. "We're ready, do you have your bag?"

Tori nodded and followed Aubrey out to the car. Stacie grabbed her purse and leaned on the side of the car while Tori and Aubrey loaded the bags into the trunk. "Did you pack all the gifts?"

"Yes, babe." Aubrey closed the trunk.

Stacie sighed and opened the car door, looking at Aubrey across the roof. "Do we really have to spend Christmas with your parents?" Aubrey glared at her and got in the car. Stacie got in too, glancing back at Tori who had already put on her headphones and was happily ignoring them in the back seat. "We never do, why do I have to drive six hours this year?"

"I can drive."

"No, it's not that."

Stacie sighed, knowing Aubrey was going to get annoyed again, and that she wasn't going to be able to talk her out of it. The fact that they were already in the car was a clear indication that her many attempts at staying home for Christmas hadn't worked.

She started the car and Aubrey took her hand. "It's going to be great." Stacie gave her a half smile and pulled out of the driveway. "You really don't want to go?"

"No, it's fine." Stacie shook her head. They'd been having this conversation since Aubrey told her her parents had asked them to go to their place for Christmas. "We spend Thanksgiving with my parents every year, I can do Christmas with yours this time."

Aubrey smiled. "It's cute how you're equating spending time with your parents to spending time with mine."

Stacie drove in silence for a while until Tori tapped her shoulder. "Are we stopping for gas? I want to get snacks."

"Yeah, we're stopping there first."

"Awes." Tori sat back not putting her headphones back on. "Why do grandma and grandpa hate mom?"

"They don't hate her."

"They just don't like me very much." Stacie added, earning a glare from Aubrey.

"They like you."

Tori snorted. "Come on, everyone can tell, ma."

"It's because I'm a woman. And because I didn't ask permission to marry her because it's not the eighteenth century and I don't need their permission."

"You could've called and told my dad what you were planning."

"Why, so he could tell me I wasn't good enough for you?"

"Sorry I asked." Tori rolled her eyes and put her headphones on.

"Who cares what he thinks?"

"You!" Stacie let go of her hand and moved it to the wheel. "I was going to call him but I didn't want to risk you saying no because your dad didn't approve."

"Stacie."

Stacie pulled over at the gas station and got out of the car.

Tori poked Aubrey's shoulder. "Money?"

Aubrey grabbed her wallet from her purse and handed Tori a bill. "Ask your mom if she wants something. And get me one of those coffee drinks I like and a bag of sour patch kids."

Aubrey waited until Tori was inside the shop and got out of the car. "Why didn't you ever tell me that?"

Stacie shrugged. "It never came up?" Aubrey arched an eyebrow. "It didn't really matter, we got married despite your parents' protests, and they mellowed a bit after Tori. I kinda got over it after fifteen years. And now I'm driving six hours to spend Christmas with them."

Aubrey smiled and stuck her hands inside Stacie's jacket pockets. "Best Christmas ever?"

Stacie laughed loudly and shook her head, pulling Aubrey closer. "I highly doubt it."

* * *

Aubrey turned to Stacie as soon as she heard the kitchen door swing open. "Try this." She lifted her fingers to Stacie's mouth and fed her a piece of bread pudding. "How is it?"

Stacie nodded while she swallowed. "It's great babe. You're cooking already?"

"Yeah, I wanted to have something ready for when Tori got home. I'm making all her favorites." Aubrey grinned, turning back and opening the fridge.

"Yeah, about that…" Stacie grimaced. "Tori's flight got cancelled. It's snowing pretty bad in Boston."

"What? No." Aubrey turned back around and shook her head. "They can't. She's coming home today."

"Not anymore." Stacie stepped closer to Aubrey. "She said she was going to try to get on a flight tomorrow but she doesn't know if it's going to work. There are a lot of people waiting for a flight."

"So she's not going to be home for Christmas?" Aubrey's eyes started filling with tears and Stacie wrapped her arms around her.

"Baby, it's okay. She'll be here eventually."

"But we always spend Christmas together. What is she going to do all by herself?"

Stacie rubbed Aubrey's back. "I'm sure there are other kids who got stuck there, she'll find someone to spend Christmas with."

"But who's going to bake cookies for Santa with me?"

"Bree, she stopped believing in Santa like ten years ago."

Aubrey glared at her. "We still baked the cookies!"

Stacie tried to stay serious but she thought Aubrey was being a little ridiculous. She rubbed her hands up and down her arms. "Babe, we can't do anything. She's gonna try to get here as soon as possible."

"Fine, Christmas is cancelled then." Aubrey threw her arms up, stepping away from Stacie and putting away the things she had been cooking.

"What?"

"Christmas is cancelled until Tori gets here." Aubrey closed the fridge door resolutely and walked out of the kitchen.

Stacie rolled her eyes and followed her. "You can't cancel Christmas, Chloe's coming over, we have presents."

"I'll call Chloe and tell her, and you can open your presents when your daughter gets home." Aubrey unplugged the lights on the Christmas tree.

"Aubrey, this is ridiculous."

Stacie knew it was the wrong thing to say as soon as the words flew out of her mouth. Aubrey whiled around and narrowed her eyes at her. "I'm sorry I don't feel like celebrating without my daughter, who I haven't seen since she started school because she just had to go to college in the other side of the country!"

"You say that like it's my fault she's there! I didn't make her go."

"You encouraged it."

"It's Harvard!" Stacie looked up and rubbed her temples. "You know I miss her too."

Adjusting to not having Tori around had been hard for both of them. They'd built their lives around being parents for so long that now they didn't really know what to do.

Aubrey looked down and sighed. "I know, I'm sorry. I just-" She shook her head. "I can't do this without Tori. At least not this year."

Stacie held out her hand and Aubrey stepped forward, letting Stacie pull her against her. "Okay, we'll cancel Christmas."

And they did. Aubrey called Chloe to tell her they were moving Christmas dinner to the 26th, pending Tori's arrival, and they spent Christmas day trying to distract themselves from the fact that it was Christmas, which for Aubrey meant cleaning every room in the house while Stacie interrupted her frequently to make out. Tori called a few times to update them on her attempts to get a new flight, but thankfully Stacie answered the first call and told her not to mention Christmas to Aubrey. Finally, Aubrey collapsed exhausted in bed a little before midnight, still dressed.

Stacie was tucking her in after she changed her when her phone rang. She kissed Aubrey's forehead and left the room to take the call. "Hey, kid, did you go home?"

"No, I got a flight now! I'm about to board. Can you pick me up at seven?"

"Sure, I'll be there."

"Just you?"

Stacie tried to not be hurt by the slight disappointment in Tori's voice. "Yeah, your mama's tired, I thought I could let her sleep in and you can surprise her."

Tori chuckled. "Okay. I have to go now. See you later."

"Love you, Tor."

"Love you too, mom."

Stacie smiled, hanging up and slipping back inside their bedroom. She got into bed, hugging Aubrey tightly and kissing her shoulder. "Merry Christmas, baby."

Aubrey woke up to someone shaking her shoulder. "Ma." Aubrey groaned and rolled away. "Ma, wake up!"

Aubrey opened one eye. "Tori?"

Tori grinned. "Santa came! He's sorry he was a little late but the reindeers got confused."

"Tori!" Aubrey sat up and hugged her, making Tori bend in a weird angle so she could hug her back.

"You're squishing me."

"When did you get here? How did you get here? What time is it?"

"Mom picked me up from the airport, we just got in. It's like eight." Tori responded. Her neck started hurting from the awkward hug she was trapped in. "I really need you to let go now, ma."

Aubrey acquiesced, her smile never faltering. "Why didn't you-" Stacie came into the room and Aubrey turned to her. "Why didn't you wake me up to go with you to the airport?"

"I thought this would be more fun." She sat down next to her and kissed her quickly. "Did you like my surprise?"

"I would've liked it at the airport too."

Stacie shook her head and looked at Tori. "I never win." She turned back to Aubrey. "Can it be Christmas now?"

"Yes!"

Stacie nodded at Tori. "Ready, kid?"

Tori smirked. "Best Christmas ever?"


	8. Fight

"Bree." Stacie leaned on the doorframe of their bathroom as Aubrey brushed her teeth. "We need to talk."

Aubrey frowned at Stacie's serious tone. She finished her teeth and turned around, arching her eyebrows. "What's wrong?"

Sighing, Stacie looked down. "I need to go to Geneva for a while."

Aubrey blinked confused. "Geneva… Switzerland?" Stacie nodded. "For how long?"

"I don't know, probably a month but it could be more."

Aubrey walked out of the bathroom frowning. "That's a long time."

"Yeah." Stacie followed her cautiously. "They want to review a lot of our processes. We might have to go to other plants too, I'm not so sure yet."

"We?"

"My boss and a couple other people." Stacie stood in front of the bed where Aubrey was sitting. "They hadn't decided who was going until earlier today. I-" She kneeled down in front of Aubrey and placed her hand on top of Aubrey's on her knee, her eyes looking pleadingly up at her. "I leave tomorrow."

"What?" Aubrey looked down, hoping she'd misheard.

"They want us to go as soon as possible." Stacie sighed, her hands squeezing Aubrey's tighter. "I know it's short notice but I really have to go."

Aubrey shook her head confused. "How can they just ask you to do that? That's ridiculous."

"I know, and I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner but I wasn't sure they'd ask me to go."

Aubrey stopped and moved her hand out from under Stacie's. "You knew before today?"

"I knew it was a possibility, I didn't know for sure."

Aubrey stood up and walked to the other side of the room. "And you didn't think you should tell me you would maybe have to go to Switzerland for a month?"

"Aubrey." Stacie said defeatedly and stood up.

"No, Stacie. How could you not tell me about this? You can't leave me and Tori for a month just like that!"

"She's sixteen, she'll be fine." Stacie rolled her eyes.

"It's not about her being fine or not. You have a family, you can't just decide things like this without discussing them with me."

"There was nothing to discuss! I have to go, it's my job." Stacie said exasperated. "You'd do the exact same thing."

"Not without talking to you first!" Aubrey clenched her jaw and shook her head. "I don't even know what to say."

"Have a nice trip, I love you?" Stacie shrugged.

"You're unbelievable." Aubrey chuckled humorlessly and walked out of the room.

"Aubrey!" Stacie called after her but she knew it was pointless. She looked down, swallowing the knot in her throat before walking to the closet to start packing.

She knew Aubrey was right, she should have told her about it before, but she didn't think she'd have to go. A month was too long, and her boss had said he'd try to keep her out of the group going to Geneva, but she was one of the few engineers who had rotated in multiple areas of the company and had a better understanding of their whole operation from the production side. He had given her the option to say no even after he told her he needed her, but going to their corporate headquarters and learning firsthand about other aspects of the company would potentially give her career a boost, and with Tori going off to college soon, they were going to need the money.

Hopefully Aubrey would understand once she calmed down, except she didn't really have much time to let her calm down, she was leaving in the morning.

Aubrey still wasn't back by the time she finished packing, and Stacie wasn't sure if looking for her right then would do more harm than good. She got into bed, figuring she'd wake up when Aubrey finally came back, but by the time her alarm woke her up, Aubrey's side of the bed was still empty.

Stacie walked down to the kitchen, smiling when she found Tori eating a bowl of cereal and going through her phone. "Hey, kid."

"Hey." She bit her lip and looked at her nervously. "Ma left you a note. She said she'd see you when you got back, are you going somewhere?"

"Yeah." Stacie walked towards Tori. "I have to go away for a while for a work thing, it's going to be at least a month."

"A month?" Tori looked up at her wide eyed and suddenly Stacie thought she looked much younger than sixteen.

"It's a lot, I know. But I'll be back before soccer season starts for sure."

Tori launched herself at her, hugging her tightly. "I'm gonna miss you."

Stacie squeezed her back. "I'm gonna miss you too, Tor."

Stacie heard Tori sniffle and she rubbed her back. "Hey, it's okay, I'm gonna be back before you know it and I'll call everyday."

"It's not that." Tori shook her head. "I heard you guys fighting last night and ma looked really mad this morning. She didn't even stay to say goodbye."

"We're gonna be fine, don't worry." Stacie pulled Tori back and wiped her cheeks. "I screwed up but I'm gonna fix it."

"It sounded bad."

"It wasn't good, but we'll go back to being embarrassingly in love as soon as I get back, I promise." Tori chuckled and Stacie smiled.

Stacie hugged her again before grabbing the note from the counter, her heart sinking when she read it.

"I'll text you when I land."

* * *

"Hey, ma." Tori walked into the living room and sat next to Aubrey on the couch.

Aubrey turned away from the television and gave her a small smile. "Hey, how was school?"

"Same as usual." Tori shrugged. "They had tapioca pudding at lunch today so that was nice." She arched an eyebrow at Aubrey's vacant expression. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes, of course." Aubrey smiled wider but Tori didn't buy it. "Do you want to order pizza for dinner? I don't really feel like cooking."

"You hate pizza." Tori was sure something was wrong now.

"I don't hate pizza, I just hate the pizza your mom gets." Aubrey stood up. "But she's not here so we can get whatever we want."

"Ma." Tori pulled Aubrey back down on the couch. "Have you talked to her?"

"Hmm?"

"Have you talked to mom?" Tori tried not to roll her eyes at Aubrey's stubbornness.

"I-" Aubrey frowned. "She texted me when she got to Geneva."

"That was two weeks ago." Tori let go of Aubrey's hand and leaned back. She didn't know it was this bad. "You haven't talked in two weeks."

"It's fine, Tor, she's busy with work and I'm-" Aubrey sighed. "It's not something for you to worry about. Mom and I love you very much and-"

"Oh my god, you're giving me the divorce speech." Tori covered her ears. "I don't wanna hear it."

"Tori." Aubrey rolled her eyes when she didn't respond and had to pry her hands away from her ears. "Victoria, we're not getting a divorce, don't be dramatic. It's just a fight."

Tori frowned. "Then why haven't you talked?"

"Because I can't be mad at her if I call her."

"That makes no sense." Tori said confused.

Aubrey looked up, trying to come up with a way to explain it. "I miss her and I feel bad I didn't stay to say goodbye, I didn't-" Her voice cracked and she swallowed. "I didn't even tell her I loved her, and if I call her I'm going to forget about what she did."

Tori hugged Aubrey and leaned her head on her shoulder. "Is that so bad?"

Aubrey smiled down at her and wrapped her arms around Tori, resting her cheek on top of her head. "I guess not."

"She misses you too." Tori said after a while. "She asks about you whenever she calls. She sounds sad."

Aubrey kissed the top of Tori's head. "I'll call her."

Tori pulled back a few minutes later and looked up at Aubrey. "Are we still getting pizza?"

"Yes." Aubrey chuckled and let her go to reach for her phone. "What do you want in your half?"

"Pepperoni and mushrooms. And olives!" Aubrey arched an eyebrow at the last topping and Tori shrugged. "Mom doesn't like olives so I can never get that."

Aubrey finished placing their order and Tori stood up.

"I'm gonna go do my homework while we wait."

"Tor?" Aubrey called out. "Thank you."

* * *

Aubrey tried Stacie's cell phone again, frowning when her call went straight to voicemail. She'd taken another week after her talk with Tori to finally decide to call Stacie, but her phone had been disconnected all day.

Aubrey walked out of the kitchen to the hall, looking up the stairs. "Tori, have you talked to your-"

The front door opened and Aubrey froze, watching as Stacie walked inside with a weary look on her face.

"Stacie."

Stacie looked up, dropping her carry on and letting go of her suitcase. She gave Aubrey a half smile and took a step forward. "Hey."

Aubrey hurried forward and wrapped her arms around Stacie, crashing their lips together. Stacie immediately deepened the kiss, her hands moving up to frame Aubrey's face.

She broke the kiss after a while and rested her forehead against Aubrey's. "I'm so sorry, baby."

Aubrey shook her head and kissed her quickly. "I'm sorry I didn't say goodbye."

"It's fine, I get it." Stacie kissed her again, her thumbs rubbing circles on Aubrey's cheeks. "I missed you so much."

"Me too." Aubrey pulled back and looked at her, noticing the dark bags under her eyes. "You look tired."

"I worked overtime so I could get back a week early." Stacie couldn't help herself and pecked Aubrey's lips a few more times before speaking again. "And I've been flying for fourteen hours."

"Nap?"

Stacie smiled and wrapped her arms around Aubrey's waist. "I love you so much."

She started walking her backwards towards the stairs, their lips staying connected until Aubrey bumped into the wall. She pushed off the wall, turning around so Stacie was the one walking backwards. The back of Stacie's legs hit the first step and she fell back, bringing Aubrey down with her.

Aubrey chuckled and looked down at Stacie. "I don't think this is going to work."

Stacie pulled her down to kiss her, leaning up on her elbow.

"Mom, you're back!" Tori called from the top of the stairs, frowning when they kept making out on the bottom step. "Sure, ignore your kid. It's not like you haven't seen me for three weeks either."

Stacie pushed Aubrey off and looked up at her. "Tori!"

Aubrey shook her head and grabbed Stacie's face, capturing her lips again.

"You guys suck." Tori said with a big smile on her face. She shook her head and turned to go back to her room. "I expect a proper greeting later!"


	9. Maybe Someday

Stacie lay in bed with her head on Aubrey's lap. She had one of Aubrey's hands between her own, toying with her fingers while Aubrey ran her free hand through her hair.

It was one of those rare Sundays she'd cajoled Aubrey into staying in bed. The weather had helped, it had been raining since they woke up and it didn't look like it was letting up anytime soon. On top of that, they'd barely seen each other all week between Stacie's school work and The Lodge.

They had spent most of the morning getting reacquainted, even though they had spent a good part of Friday and Saturday night doing that, and took a food break around noon. They had been reading in bed, when Stacie started thinking about what they were going to do next. She was halfway through her PhD, and while there was still some time to go, she knew that whatever she did next, she wanted Aubrey to be there.

"Do you want to live in Atlanta forever ?"

Aubrey shrugged. "I don't know, I mean, The Lodge is here, but other than that, I guess there's nothing really keeping me here besides you." She scratched Stacie's skull softly. "Do you want to move?"

"I don't know. Maybe when I finish school but I don't really know where."

"I've never planned on running The Lodge forever, it wouldn't be a crazy idea for us to move when you're done."

Stacie smiled, she loved how easy it was for Aubrey to think about them still being together in a few years and moving away with her. She kissed the palm of Aubrey's hand and looked up at her. "We could move closer to Chloe, that would be nice."

"And we'd be closer to your family too," Aubrey added.

Stacie fiddled with Aubrey's fingers for a while, thinking in silence until she thought of something and asked without turning to look at Aubrey. "Have you thought about having kids?"

Aubrey's hand stopped combing through her hair. "I have..."

"And?" Stacie worried she might've brought this up too soon. She didn't really know why she'd thought about it, she just got carried away thinking about the future.

"And, I don't know. I might not be the right person for kids."

"Oh." Stacie tried not to sound disappointed but failed.

"Do you want kids?"

Stacie turned to look at her and smiled halfheartedly. "Maybe. Someday. We can ask my brother to be the sperm donor." Stacie sat up and straddled Aubrey's thighs, tucking back Aubrey's hair. "Can you imagine a kid with your eyes and my smile?"

"And your brains," Aubrey added, the side of her lips quirking up.

"And your heart." Stacie tilted her head. "You have to admit we'd make the cutest kid."

Aubrey smiled and kissed her softly. "I'll think about it."

After exchanging a few kisses, Aubrey pulled back with a worried look on her face. "Is this a deal breaker? I might not change my mind and I don't want you to give up something this big for me."

Stacie tilted her chin up so she'd look at her. "The only thing I can't see myself giving up is you."

"You're the cheesiest." Aubrey wrapped her arms around her shoulders and kissed her. "But I wouldn't give you up either."

* * *

"Hey, Stace." Aubrey shook Stacie's shoulder to wake her up. "Baby, wake up."

Stacie pressed her head harder against the pillow and whimpered. "Why?"

"I wanna show you something."

Aubrey moved her hair back to look at her face and Stacie opened one eye. "Does it have to be now?"

"I guess it can wait." Aubrey pouted and sat back.

Stacie turned to look at her, pursing her lips as she studied her face, and finally sighed and sat up. "Show me."

Aubrey grinned and kissed her noisily. "You know how Chloe moved a few months ago?"

"Yeah…" Stacie didn't know where this was going but Aubrey seemed to be very excited about it.

"Well, I know you're gonna start looking for a job soon, and I told Chloe we'd talked about maybe moving when you graduated." She grabbed her tablet and unlocked it. "And so she saw this house for sale and it's just like a five minute drive away from her. It's got three bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, a garden…" Aubrey looked up at Stacie eagerly and handed her the tablet. "What do you think?"

"I think..." Stacie swiped through the pictures. "Isn't this too big for us?"

"Well, yes, but-" Aubrey bit her lip and waited for Stacie to finish looking at the pictures and look at her. "-I mean, it doesn't have to be just the two of us." Stacie frowned confused and Aubrey hurried to continue. "Chloe's been thinking about having another kid and, wouldn't it be awesome if our kids were the same age and went to the same school? They could be Bellas together."

Stacie chuckled, putting down the tablet and kissing her. "You want kids?"

Aubrey lifted a finger. "A kid."

Stacie grinned and pushed Aubrey down onto the bed. "We should start working on that."

Stacie started trailing kisses down her neck and Aubrey laughed.

"You know that's not how it works, right? You can't actually impregnate me."

"I know." Stacie continued, lifting Aubrey's shirt off her.

"And I didn't say we should have the kid right this second, we should probably move first, find jobs, get settled."

"Right." Stacie mumbled against Aubrey's skin and continued moving down, stopping just as she got to Aubrey's navel and sitting up with a frown. "You know that, even if we have a girl, she might not be a Bella, right?"

"Why not?" Aubrey looked like she really couldn't believe that was a possibility.

"Because she might not want to go to Barden, or she might not like singing competitively or at all?"

"But." Aubrey pursed her lips and frowned deeply.

Stacie smiled and kissed her. "We don't have to worry about that now. We might have a boy anyway."

"Yeah." Aubrey cupped her cheeks and kissed her. "But if he wants to be a Treble I'll kill him."


	10. Fuck

Beca had never really been into kids. She'd never been with anyone long enough to even think about having her own, and even though she'd spent time with children, she wasn't used to spending one-on-one time with them.

When Tori was born, Beca had visited the new mothers, even brought the largest gift in their registry, and while she was a cute baby, she was still a baby which made Beca less than interested in her. That was until Aubrey asked if she wanted to be her godmother. Beca appreciated the fact that Aubrey had been the one to ask, implicitly letting her know she was on board with it, but what sold her was Stacie's hopeful look.

Beca took her godmothering duties, which she later learned she shared with Chloe, extremely seriously. She knew that not living as close as Chloe did put her at a disadvantage, but whenever she visited she offered to stay with Tori for the weekend so Aubrey and Stacie could have some alone time.

Beca didn't know if she was biased because she was Tori's godmother, but she was way better than the other kids she'd met. She was smart and funny and, despite being half Aubrey Posen, she loved Beca, and now that she had started talking, actual sentences and not just random words, being with her was way more entertaining.

Beca carried Tori to the kitchen, sitting her on her high seat and making sure she was secure. "What do you want for breakfast?" Beca looked at the list Aubrey had stuck to the fridge door. "This says you can have fruit and toast with peanut butter, scrambled eggs, or oatmeal."

"Apple." Tori said with a smile.

"Yes, apple, but what else?" Beca tilted her head at her. "You want scrambled eggs?"

Beca opened the fridge when Tori nodded and took out a couple of eggs. After scrambling them, she turned to grab an apple to slice it. She figured she could do it while the eggs cooked, except she hadn't realized the stove was on too hot until the eggs started sizzling. She turned the heat down, looking around for a spatula to get the eggs onto a plate.

She returned, not noticing she'd knocked the apple down to the floor until she took a step back and stepped on it, falling with a loud thud on the floor in front of the stove.

"Fuck!" Beca rubbed the back of her head and sat up, taking a breath before trying to stand up. "Fuck, fuck, fucking, fuck, fuck, fucking, mother fuck," she muttered as she pulled herself up, turned off the stove and looked at Tori. "I'm fine."

Tori tilted her head and frowned, studying Beca for a few seconds. "Fuck?"

"Fuck…" Beca's face fell and she hurried towards Tori. "No, no, no, no, no."

"Fuck!" Tori threw her arms up happily and smiled.

"Tori, stop saying that." Beca whined. "Your moms are gonna kill me."

"Fuck." Tori nodded.

"Tori, stop." Beca gave her her most serious look.

Tori pouted in a way that reminded Beca of Aubrey, making her think of how mad the blonde would be if she got home and Tori greeted her like that.

"Food?" Tori asked sweetly and Beca sighed relieved.

"Yes, food."

She turned back to finish getting Tori's breakfast ready, thinking she was out of the woods until she placed the plate in front of her and, instead of the thank you she expected, Tori simply banged her plastic fork on the plate and said, "fuck!"

"Tori," Beca warned but the girl ignored her and started eating her food.

Beca decided to let it go for now, getting food for herself and keeping an eye on Tori as she ate. She seemed happy enough with her food, wasn't making a mess, and she had stopped saying anything. She hoped she'd forget about the word, and had almost forgotten about it herself by the time she was done cleaning up after breakfast.

She took Tori to the living room, sitting down on the floor next to her. "Your moms won't be back for a couple of hours, you wanna watch a movie?"

"Fuck," Tori said with a giggle.

"Tori, no." Beca was trying to sound serious and authoritative but she had a feeling she was failing.

"Fuck!" Tori repeated louder.

"Tori, come on. Stop."

Tori grinned widely. "Fuck."

"Tori."

"Fuck!"

Beca groaned, dropping her head onto her hands. She needed help, except calling Stacie and Aubrey was out of the question. If Aubrey didn't kill her for teaching Tori that word, Stacie would certainly do it if she interrupted them when they still had a couple of hours before they had to check out of their hotel.

She grabbed her phone, quickly dialing the one other person she knew could help her and speaking as soon as she picked up. "I did something."

"Is Tori okay?" Beca tried not to be offended by the lack of surprise in Chloe's voice.

"Yeah, yeah, she's fine." She bit her lip. "Can you come over?"

"I'll be there in 20."

"Thanks, Chlo."

Beca decided that leaving Tori alone and not encouraging her to speak was the best strategy for now, so she put her in her playpen, handed her a few toys and walked out of the room, pacing in the hall until she heard Chloe's kock.

"What did you do?" Chloe pushed past her and into the living room, smiling at the sight of the little girl on the floor. "Hey, sweetie, how are you?"

"Fuck!" Tori replied with a big grin.

"Oh, Aubrey's gonna kill you." Chloe looked up to find Beca biting her lip worriedly. "How did this happen?"

"I fell." Beca pouted. "Can you fix her?"

"I can try." Chloe crouched down in front of Tori. "How are you, noodle?"

"'Kay." Tori smiled up at her. She grabbed a stuffed frog sitting next to her and offered it to Chloe. "Fuck."

"Tori, that's not a nice word." Tori tilted her head and looked at Beca who shook her head. "I know Beca said it but you can't."

Tori frowned. "No?"

"No, sweetie. It's a bad word." Chloe arched an eyebrow and looked at the girl until she nodded, smiling satisfied when she did and standing up.

"That's it?" Beca asked surprised.

"She's a smart kid." Chloe shrugged. "What time are Stacie and Aubrey back?"

"Check out is at noon, they said they'd come straight back."

"Do you want me to stay?" Chloe looked at Tori who had gone back to playing with her toys.

"Can you?" Beca asked a little too eagerly. "I mean, if you're not busy."

Chloe smiled. "Adam went to his parents' to fix something and took the kids. I'm free."

"Great!" Beca smiled.

* * *

Beca looked up as much as her current position allowed when she heard the door.

"We're home!" Stacie walked into the living room, her hand firmly clasping Aubrey's. She chuckled when she found Beca sitting on the floor in front of the couch with Chloe braiding her hair and Tori doing her makeup.

"Help," Beca whimpered.

Ignoring Beca's cry for help, Stacie pulled Aubrey in front of herself and wrapped her arms around her waist. She nodded at Chloe. "What are you doing here?"

"Tori needed help with the braids." Chloe shrugged. "How did your night away go?"

Stacie smiled dreamily and tightened her arms around Aubrey. Aubrey smiled too and opened her mouth, her voice barely audible. "Great."

"What happened to your voice?" Beca asked, grimacing when Chloe tugged at her hair.

Stacie chuckled. "She's not used to the vocal strain of no kid sex anymore." Aubrey frowned at her and Stacie pecked her cheek. "I told you to warm up."

"Gross," Beca said.

Chloe let go of her hair and grabbed Tori off the floor. "Come on, munchkin, let's go make mama some tea so she can tell us all about her night with mommy."

Stacie stopped Aubrey from following Chloe and kissed her deeply, her hands brushing against the skin under her shirt. "I love you."

Aubrey mouthed it back before joining Chloe in the kitchen. Stacie watched her until she was gone and then sat on the couch next to Beca, who had moved up from the floor.

"So, what's Chloe really doing here? Did something happen?"

"No, I just-" Beca shook her head. "It was stupid. I was making breakfast and I fell and I said… something…" Stacie arched an eyebrow. "I said fuck and Tori heard me and I couldn't get her to stop saying it."

Stacie burst out laughing and Beca glared at her. "I'm sorry, it's not funny."

"Aubrey would've killed me if she came home and Tori kept saying that!"

Stacie was still laughing. "I know, it's not good." She shook her head and controlled herself. "Chloe fixed it?"

"Yeah, she hasn't said it since Chloe talked to her, I think-"

"Beca!" Aubrey yelled from the kitchen, her voice had no trace of the previous raspiness.

"She sounds better." Beca gulped. "You think Chloe told her?"

"Or Tori said it again." Stacie looked worriedly at the kitchen door. "I think you should go." Beca nodded, already moving to get her things. "Thanks for watching her!"


	11. So Far Away

Stacie tapped on her laptop impatiently as she waited for Aubrey to pick up, checking the clock again to make sure she had the right time. She did.

She bit her thumbnail, wondering if she should just try Aubrey's phone instead. It wasn't like Aubrey to be late, if anything she was painfully punctual. She would've at least texted her if she knew she was going to be late.

Finally, after what felt like hours for Stacie, her computer stopped ringing and Aubrey filled her screen, a squirming baby poking her head at the bottom.

"Hey, babe," Aubrey said with a smile, adjusting the baby in her arms.

"You're late!" Stacie said accusingly, her heart still beating faster than it usually did.

"I had to change Tori. It was less than ten minutes."

"Ten minutes late in Posen adjusted terms is like an hour." Aubrey rolled her eyes. "I was worried."

Aubrey's gaze softened. "I'm sorry."

Stacie whimpered. "I miss you so much."

"We miss you too. I can't wait for Monday."

Stacie groaned. "That's in forever. I hate being away from you. I'm pretty sure Tori's forgotten about me already."

"She hasn't, she misses you." Aubrey lifted Tori so she could face the screen. "You miss mommy, don't you sweetie?"

"Hey, Tor!" Stacie waved at the screen. "You still remember me, kid?"

"Stace." Aubrey warned softly.

"She's a baby! I don't know what she knows."

"She's been hearing your voice since she was inside me, you've held her countless hours since she was born, she can't forget you so fast." Tori flailed as if she was trying to reach the screen. "See, she misses you."

"Aww, I'll be there in two days." Stacie blew a kiss at them. "You're picking me up at the airport, right?"

"Of course. I'm even making a tiny sign that says 'mom' for Tori so you can find us."

Stacie felt her throat tighten and tears stinging in her eyes. "I love you so much."

"I love you, too." Aubrey shifted Tori again and chuckled, wiping a tear. "I'm still hormonal, what's your excuse?"

"I don't need an excuse to miss my wife and daughter." Stacie pouted. "Next time either of us has to go somewhere, we're going together."

Aubrey tilted her head, the edge of her mouth tilting up. "Sounds like a plan."

* * *

"Tori!" Stacie yelled as she sat down in front of her computer. "Come on."

Stacie clicked the call button and waited, smiling when Aubrey's face filled the screen. Her eyes were half open and she yawned.

"Did I wake you?" Aubrey shook her head but couldn't stifle her yawn. "Go back to sleep, we'll call you later."

"No, I wanna see Tori." Aubrey rubbed her eyes. "Where is she?"

"She's coming, she was playing in her room." Stacie turned towards the door and yelled. "Tori, come here!"

Stacie heard the pitter patter of small feet and Tori came running into the room. She jumped on Stacie's lap and smiled at the screen. "Mama!"

"Hey, Tor, what have you been up to?"

"Jenny slept over yesterday!" Tori relayed happily.

"She did?"

Tori nodded. "Uh-huh, and we watched a movie and mom made spaghetti and we had ice cream."

"You had fun?" Aubrey asked, failing to keep herself from smiling as widely as the girl.

"It was awesome!"

Stacie hugged Tori. "The only thing missing was you and your cookies, right, kid?" Tori nodded distractedly. She started squirming to get off Stacie's lap and go back to her room. "Say goodbye to ma, kid."

"Bye, mama!" Tori waved.

"I love you, Tor!"

"Love you, ma!" Tori jumped off Stacie's lap and ran out.

"You're gonna have to bake cookies when you get back."

Aubrey chuckled. "I don't know if she missed my cookies or you did."

"Oh I miss way more than just your cookies, babe." Stacie bit her lip. She looked at Aubrey for a few seconds and then sighed. "How's your mom?"

"She's okay, the pain meds are helping." Aubrey leaned back, pulling her laptop with her. "My dad's the one going crazy. He wants to help but doesn't really know how."

"You need backup?"

Aubrey smiled. "I love you for offering, but-"

"Your parents hate me." Stacie nodded.

"They don't hate you." Aubrey shook her head. "You're doing enough holding down the fort there."

"Okay. But if you need me-"

"I always need you." Aubrey sighed. "My sister's coming this weekend. If my mom's feeling better I might come back earlier."

"You should've led with that!" Stacie grinned. "Sooner when?"

"Tuesday. I wanna stay for the appointment on Monday."

"Okay." Stacie fidgeted, she missed Aubrey but she knew she needed to focus on her mom right now. "Well, take as long as you need, I've got things here."

"Have I told you how much I love you?"

Stacie leaned on her elbow, her mouth twisting into a goofy grin. "How much?"

"Tons and tons." Aubrey blew her a kiss but it turned into a yawn, making Stacie laugh.

"Go back to sleep." Aubrey pouted. "I love you."

"Give Tori a kiss from me."

Stacie nodded. "And my kiss?"

"I'll give it to you in person when I get back."

* * *

Stacie stretched, fishing her phone from under her pillow and answering the video call from Aubrey. "Morning, gorgeous."

"Hey, babe." Stacie's chest ached at the sight of Aubrey's hair fanning out on her pillow. "What time do you start today?"

Stacie looked at the time on the corner of her phone. "In a couple of hours." She rolled over to her back, holding the phone in front of herself and biting her lip. "I had a dream about you."

She heard a groan on Aubrey's side. "Please stop, I'm here."

Aubrey turned the phone so Stacie could see Tori sitting back against the headboard with a book on her lap. "Aren't you a little old to be sleeping in our bed?"

The teenager leveled a glare at Stacie. "I didn't sleep here, I just brought breakfast."

"Breakfast in bed?" Stacie arched an eyebrow. "You're making me look bad, kid."

Aubrey turned the phone towards herself again and smiled. "She wanted to cheer me up."

"You guys are ridiculous when you're apart, ma's been moping," Tori added.

"Aww, you miss me, baby?" Stacie cooed.

Aubrey rolled her eyes. "Tori's exaggerating, I just turned in early last night. I was tired."

"You kept checking your phone and pouting." Tori's head appeared next to Aubrey's. "You need to check in more often."

Aubrey wrapped her arm around Tori, smushing her against her side. "She's the best, isn't she."

"She is pretty awesome." Stacie nodded while Tori squirmed to get free until she finally managed to get away.

"I'm leaving," she declared. "Bring me something cool."

"I don't think Cleveland has anything cool." Stacie pursed her lips. She finally shrugged and smirked seductively at Aubrey. "So, about that dream."

A grunt was heard off screen. "I can still hear you!"


End file.
